Our responsibility is to ensure peace in memory of our martyrs of peace

We should remember that on October 10, 2015 the Labor, Peace and Democracy rally was decided to be held in Ankara with the motto of "Against the War, Peace Right Now" upon the call of KESK, DISK, TMMOB and TTB and with the participation of tens of institution and organizations in order to get out of the intense conflict, war and oppression prevailing in Turkey; to start the resolution process with dialogues and negotiations and to ensure a permanent and meaningful peace in the shortest time possible.

We should remember that thousands of people including Turks, Kurds, Alevis, Sunnis, women, toilers, the young and the elderly, wishing to establish peace all over Turkey started to come together in front of Ankara Railway Station on October 10, 2015. When the clock hit 10:04 AM, the bloodiest attack of the history of Turkey took place; the call for peace by thousands of people in Ankara was responded with bombs and a total of 102 people died and 419 were injured due to the ISIS attack.

We should remember that from the very beginning of the investigation President Erdoğan hid behind his “cocktail attack” statement, though he knew that it was not real, doing his best to avoid mentioning ISIS as being behind the attack. However, both the identities of the attackers and tens of links related to the attack proved that Ankara Massacre was performed by ISIS. While the backdrop of the massacre was ambiguated through “cocktail attack” statements from the very first day and in lack of any effective investigation, prosecutions were brought and penalties were imposed for hundreds of laborers participating in strikes and other demonstrations condemning the massacre.

We should remember that the bloodiest attack of the history of Turkey is a result of the statements by the President including “There is no Kurdish question”, “I don't find Dolmabahce Agreement efficient, there is no meeting table and parties anymore”; gradual increase of tension and conflicts in Turkey since April 2015 when the resolution process was ceased, and activation of early election process with violence and war policies by the President after AKP lost the government majority following the election on June 7, 2015.

We should remember that Ankara Massacre was the fifth bombing attack against the democracy forces within a period of five months. On May 18, 2015, following the Adana rally and before the Mersin rally by HDP in Adana, two different bomb attacks were carried out in Adana and Mersin HDP offices; and another bomb attack took place in Diyarbakır HDP rally on June 5, 2015, which led to the death of 5 people. A similar massacre was performed on July 20 where 33 people died.

We should remember Davutoğlu -the Prime Minister back then- stated in his first declaration about the suicide bombers which read "We have the list of potential suicide bombers; however, we cannot step in, before an attack takes place." Similarly, Selami Altınok -Minister of Internal Affairs back then- expressed that there was no security gap and meanwhile, Kenan İpek -Minister of Justice of the time- was caught smiling.

We should remember that although highly powerful indicators and data have been found indicating that the attack was carried out with the collaboration of some groups and powers within the ranks and files of the Turkish State, and as a result of the lack of necessary and efficient security measures by government officials -particularly the Law Enforcement Agency- no progress has been achieved in legal terms, as the government officials did their best to tamper with any evidence.

Ankara Massacre is the price paid by the peoples of Turkey for the sectarian policies executed in the Middle East by AKP, and the support the government provided for organizations in Syria and Iraq including Al-Nusra and Al-Qaeda. It is the result of the governmental policies inside and outside of the country, based on war and violence.

Adoption of peaceful policies is an urgent necessity for the present day and the future of the peoples in Turkey and the Middle East. Assuring peace is our principal responsibility and duty against all those who lost their lives in the attack, particularly our martyrs of peace, who had come together under the motto of “Against the War, Peace Right Now”. As the forces of democracy, we call those responsible for the massacre to account for, and we shall ensure proper legal judgment.